APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | AMAZON | STITCHER
When I was first thinking about escaping the rat race to start to pursue my passion and start my own business, there were a lot of things that I had heard about being an entrepreneur that held me back for quite a while in making my move. I convinced myself that I just needed to do a few more years in the corporate world before I would be ready to take on the challenge. Not because I really needed that, but because I had been brainwashed into believing, that I wasn’t cut out to be an entrepreneur.
Slowly I managed to unpick all the years of subliminal messaging that made me think it was other people who became entrepreneurs, other people who were born with this special gift, other people who were confident and resilient enough to pursue their passion away from the world of of the employee. And was able to plan and action my escape to freedom and the new world of entrepreneurship.
Now I’ve been here a while, I have my own opinions on some of the myths I used to believe, that I want to share with you. Just in case some of them are your beliefs too and they are holding you back from what you want in life.
MYTH #1: YOU NEED TO BE A CERTAIN TYPE OF PERSONALITY TO BE AN ENTREPRENEUR
I definitely believed this myth for a long time and had well-entrenched beliefs about what it meant to be an entrepreneur.
So let’s start with, what an entrepreneur actually is? Well, The word “entrepreneur” originates from a thirteenth-century French verb, “entreprendre”, meaning “to do something” or “to undertake.” By the sixteenth century, the noun form, entrepreneur, was being used to refer to someone who undertakes a business venture.
Wikipedia describes an entrepreneur as ‘an individual who creates and/or invests in one or more businesses, bearing most of the risks and enjoying most of the rewards.’ Pretty straight forward right!
But there is this idea that entrepreneurs are somehow a different breed, some kind of special person that we could not hope to emulate. That you have to be someone that is a super creative original thinker, a risk-taker, who can think in a different way to most people and has boundless confidence and energy. People like Elon Musk or Richard Branson who plan crazy schemes and challenges or young start-up leaders like Mark Zuckerberg, Stephen Bartlett, and the late Jamal Edwards who manage to make a lot of money young because they hit on a gap in the market or the new next greatest thing.
And look that type may describe many entrepreneurs, but just like successful leaders, there are a lot of successful entrepreneurs who have very different traits. Who you don’t hear of, because they are not in the press, or viral on social media, are those entrepreneurs who are quietly going about their business, making money doing what they love.
Although some people may have an advantage by naturally having certain skills or traits, anyone can become an entrepreneur. It’s not some secret club. A lot of the skills needed can be learned and different traits can help or hinder in different ways.
In my view, although you don't need to be a certain personality type to start your own business and join the world of entrepreneurship, there is one thing that is needed.
It all really comes down to mindset; it’s positivity and resilience, and your attitude. If you believe and tell yourself that you are not an entrepreneur, you don't have the traits or are too old or young, then you won’t be one.
- You have to back yourself, belief in your abilities and strengths
- You have to be positive in your thinking
- You have to be passionate about what you want to do
- Your mind also needs to be open to ideas, possibilities, variety and change.
MYTH #2: LEAVING EMPLOYMENT TO HAVE YOUR OWN BUSINESS IS SCARILY RISKY
This is one of the biggest beliefs that held me back for quite a while. The thought is that having a business is a huge risk, far riskier than staying in a job. It turned into this big scary thing for me. And look, I’m not going to tell you that starting and running a business does not carry some risk, of course, it does. Nothing that is worth having doesn’t come with some kind of leap of faith. However, what I learned was that if you plan ahead you can make sure that you are protected.
So in other words, if you take a risk to escape your day job and become your own boss, you need to protect that risk by preparing and balancing it with other protections like having a strong well thought out strategy, by making sure you have your finances looking healthy from the start, by having another type of income ready to go or already in place. And by taking your time to experiment and make sure that your idea, your passion, is strong enough to be a success.
Yes, that can take time, and you can’t race off, quit your job and leap into being an entrepreneur on a whim. The premium that you pay to hedge your risk is the time and energy it will take to make sure you are in the best place possible to start a business. That big scary risk then looks far more manageable and not that much more than you may have as an employee.
The fact is, now more than ever being an employee is not as stable as it was in the past. Even as an employee you need to be aware that things can go wrong which can affect their employment, like the 2008 financial crash, Brexit, changing political situations and the Covid pandemic. As an employee, you are always at the mercy of things out of your control: hiring managers, your manager, company strategy, the external market, and political and social events.
Whereas, when working for yourself, you are the one in control. Yes, external influences affect small business owners too, of course, they do, but can decide how to react and how you will deal with it.
Ultimately when you are an entrepreneur you take on the risk of a venture and get most of the reward (the tax man gets the rest!) but as an employee, yes you have less risk but you also get less reward.
You spend your time making money for others and building someone else's dream. You need to decide if you want to take a calculated hedged risk to gain a greater reward (when I’m talking about reward I’m not just talking about money, but freedom, balance and fulfilment) or remain safe but limited as an employee.
MYTH #3: YOU NEED TO STAY AN EMPLOYEE TO MAKE CONSISTENT INCOME
One thing I hear all the time from aspiring entrepreneurs deciding whether to leave the rat race or not is that they are concerned about stability and consistency of income. And of course, I was too.
Being in a salaried job, getting that monthly income, having those additional benefits and, if you are lucky, getting that annual bonus is great. You always know where you are, what you have and what you could have in the future.
But it’s not so great if in exchange you are frustrated, unfulfilled or stressed and just not living your life how you imagined. You have to ask yourself, is that consistency, that stability worth it.
So what about having your own business? How can you have consistent income? Look, I’m not going to pretend that it is consistent from the beginning and the very nature of business is that you have peaks and troughs, and you learn to manage your money in a different way.
But it is possible to create some consistency and, not only that, you can make a profit as well.
The secret is four words…Multiple streams of income. If you have various ways of bringing in revenue, you avoid the feast or famine state that can happen when you have one product or service. This can also be applied to your day job. As we saw over the pandemic, jobs that had previously been secure suddenly disappeared, so having a backup business or freelancing skills could be worth having whether you leave your job to start a business or not.
Look at it this way, as an employee you have consistency but you always have a ceiling, even if you are the CEO at the top of your game at a Fortune 500 company and you make millions you are still an employee and there is a limit to what you can earn. And let’s face it, getting to the top to be a CEO of a large organisation is achieved by relatively few people. As an employee, you also have people ahead of you and your ability to progress rests on them leaving or being prompted so you can move up. Or you need to leave and go elsewhere
As an entrepreneur, the sky’s the limit. There is no one above you to halt your progress, and if making a lot of money is important to you, there is no one stopping you from becoming the next entrepreneur billionaire.
So not only can you create a consistent income to support the life you love, but you have the potential if you want it to make a lot more.
MYTH #4: YOU HAVE TO BE A TOP SALESPERSON TO SUCCEED
A lot of people are scared off because as the boss of your company you will be responsible for making sure people are buying whatever it is you are selling, whether that’s physical or virtual products, services, events or experiences.
That is true. When you leave working for an employer you leave behind that steady flow of work that just comes your way as being part of a bigger project. You lose the marketing and PR departments and the business they bring in. It is up to you to attract customers, like clients for your consultancy, businesses that will hire you to work freelance for them or the customers to buy your product or turn up to your event or venue.
You do have to prepare yourself for that fact. But, it does not have to be as daunting as you think. There are so many ways of reaching your potential customers, like through social media, your website, getting in the media through pr opportunities, networking in groups and communities or online advertising. Whatever your business or product you can start a podcast or blog to share with people what you do and let them see what it would be like working with you.
And if all else fails, if you really can’t stand sales or marketing. Let me tell you a secret…you can hire people to help! Yes as a boss you can hire people! Now I’m not talking full time, but hire a freelancer for a few hours a week to help you on that aspect. Of course, it doesn’t get you out of it entirely, as the boss you will have to show up and be seen, but a guiding hand can make all the difference. Fiver.com is a fantastic resource to find someone to help with this or any aspect of your new business that is not in your zone of genius.
So you don't need to be a top salesperson in the old school sense, but you do need to have one thing to be able to market and attract people to buy what you have to offer. What is that? You guessed it, it’s PASSION. Being passionate about your business, believing in it and yourself really shines through and people see that authenticity and confidence and will be drawn to it.
MYTH #5: BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR IS LONELY
When you’re in your 9-5, yes you have a ready-made community. You don’t have to work hard at it because they are just there, and your need for friendship and people contact is fulfilled because you're surrounded by people every day, or for whatever days you're in the office. Even if you feel different to them, and they are not people you would hang out with outside work, there is a sense of connection.
Whereas, as a new business owner, certainly in the beginning you spend a lot of time alone as you get it off the ground. And at first, I have to admit it can be a bit of a culture shock. Not having those people around to chat to and share things with that only they will understand.
But what I soon realised was that although I had left one social group behind, I had gained a wonderful family of entrepreneurs who are only too happy to welcome you into their club. Once you find the right group for you, what I like to call your Tribe, you have a ready-made team, not just from your local city or country, but all over the world! They are there for you when you have a problem that needs a solution, when you just need to vent or when you want to celebrate success.
So being an entrepreneur could be lonely, but only if you let it. If you don’t reach out and build relationships within the entrepreneur community. It also depends on your need for connection, if you have a personality that likes to be alone, then you will be fine, but I would still encourage you to build your Tribe with people who understand you, as you will need support whatever your business or need for community.
The beauty about the Tribe you create as an entrepreneur is that you get to handpick them. Whereas in the world of work, it’s not quite as easy to move on if you find the people you’re working alongside are not your kind of people. You don’t get to pick who you see every day. Even if you can hire a whole new team, there are always going to be people you inherit or people from other teams that you have to work at getting along with. But as an entrepreneur, you have the freedom to connect with only those that you want to hang out with!
THE BOTTOM LINE IS…
I’m not trying to sugarcoat life as an entrepreneur, there are challenges for sure and it is a very different life to that of an employee. But for me, different means better!
I do need to say that being an entrepreneur is not for everyone, some people are more suited to working for someone else and that is absolutely fine. We need those people! And there is room for everyone.
If you're listening to this podcast, I’m guessing you are at least thinking about escaping your job to open a business of some kind. What I’m saying to you is if you have that urge, then follow it. Don't let myths or false beliefs hold you back. There are challenges, just like there are in the corporate world, but you can equip yourself to face them. You have to put the work in, but what you gain in return, far outweighs it and before long you will be looking back at the myths you believed with a smile as you start a day doing what you love and living the life you had once was only a dream.
Click on the play button above to listen to the full episode
Links mentioned in this episode:
Super Founders: What Data Reveals About Billion-Dollar Startups,
